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Saturday, 18 June 2016

Now U.S. regime ask Russia not to bomb al-Nusra ~ Sergey Lavrov: “U.S. seems to want to use al-Nusra to overthrow al-Assad”

The United States seems to want al-Nusra Front terrorist group to remain in some form in Syria and use it to achieve own goals, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) ~ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the US earlier this month to convince those rebel groups which they support in Syria to leave areas where al-Nusra Front militants are present.

Earlier, Washington asked Moscow to direct its airstrikes solely at al-Nusra Front and refrain from targeting so-called “moderate” rebels, working with al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria.

“The Americans are now saying that they are unable to remove the ‘good’ opposition members from the positions held by al-Nusra Front, and that they will need another two-three months. I am under the impression that there is a game here and they may want to keep al-Nusra Front in some form and later use it to overthrow the [Assad] regime,” Lavrov said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The US-Russian brokered ceasefire entered into force on ceasefire agreement came into force across Syria on February 27. Terrorist organizations such the Daesh and al-Nusra Front are excluded from the truce.

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Washington’s Achilles Heel in Syria:Why US Asked Russia Not to Bomb Nusra

In a slight turn of events, Washington asked Moscow to direct its airstrikes solely at al-Nusra Front and refrain from targeting so-called “moderate” rebels, working with al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, but, Russian officials and experts have said it is not rational since these militants are coordinating attacks against government forces and civilians.

(Sputnik) ~ In other words, those who work with al-Nusra Front even if they do so from time to time are de facto not moderate – whether they are described as such or not.

“The Obama Administration thus continues with the fiction that there are completely separate, vetted, moderate rebels who are dedicated to creating an inclusive, multi-cultural, multi-confessional, secular and democratic Syria as soon as both [Daesh] and the Assad government are defeated,” political analyst Daniel McAdams, Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, noted ironically.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the US to convince those rebel groups which they support in Syria to leave areas where al-Nusra Front militants are present. The Americans “are telling us not to hit [al-Nusra Front], because there is ‘normal’ opposition next to it,” the diplomat said. “But that opposition must leave terrorists’ positions, we long have agreed on that.”

In fact, this agreement was reached months ago, but it has not been implemented yet, making counterterrorism efforts in Syria less efficient.

Interestingly, both Moscow and Washington view al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organization. In this context, distancing itself from al-Qaeda’s offshoot should have been a non-issue for what Russian officials often have referred to as “patriotic” opposition. Why are they not severing ties will al-Qaeda then?

Some have tried to defend these groups by saying that they have been forced to stay with al-Nusra Front.

“To be sure, it has been clear for years that the US-allied anti-Assad rebels in Syria lean on al-Qaeda’s military prowess for their survival. Some US officials stress that Nusra and opposition forces currently are working together on occasion and that such cooperation is not born out of shared ideology but practical wartime necessity,” the Daily Beast asserted.

But what wartime necessity could justify killing civilians? For instance, in May, al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham, a group that the US considers to be moderate, killed 19 civilians in a joint attack on the Alawite village of Zara, located in the Hama province.

“They killed elderly people, took children and women as captives,” Abdou Khalifa, a villager wounded in the attack, told RT last month. Another villager, Munzer Qasem, referred to the attack as a massacre. “I heard of two or three entire families killed. Abu Naval’s family was killed. He was an old man and was killed together with his daughters. They were slaughtered in their own house.”

Meanwhile, al-Nusra Front have managed to regroup and resupply, taking advantage of the nationwide ceasefire and “moderate” rebels in their midst, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday.

In the last few days they have launched attacks on Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, as well as Ard al-Wata, Rasha and Kinsibba in the ‪‎Latakia‬ province, Tesnin in the Homs province, Marj al-Sultan in the Damascus province and the northern region of al-Manshiya neighborhood in the ‪‎Daraa‬ province.

“Why is no one asking why … moderates would want to associate themselves with al-Qaeda in the first place? Why do they seek to integrate into al-Qaeda command structures? How are they not to be considered ducks when they walk like ducks and quack like ducks?” Daniel McAdams asked.

Units of the Syrian army and armed forces, supported by the Syrian air force continued on Saturday combating terrorism in several provinces in the country, destroying terrorist positions, dens and vehicles as well as killing and injuring scores of them.

Homs

Units of the army, supported by the army’s air force, destroyed 3 positions and a bomb car for ISIL near al-Rayan village, al- Tleilah and Ark in Homs eastern countryside, a military source told SANA.

The Syrian army also repelled an attack launched by ISIL terrorists on it positions between Qasr al-Heer and al-Qaryatain.

Meanwhile, an army unit destroyed an explosive-loaded vehicle for ISIL before it reached al-Rayan village turn some 20 kms to southeast of Homs city, the source added

Deir Ezzor

The army’s air force carried out special raids on the dens and sites of ISIL terrorists in Deir Ezzor countryside.

A military source told SANA that the raids ended up with destroying two positions and vehicles for ISIL in the south and west parts of Deir Ezzor airport.

Hama

Army units foiled an ISIL attempt to attack military posts in the eastern countryside of Hama province.

A field source told SANA Saturday that army units heavily clashed during the past hours with groups of ISIL terrorists sneaked into the vicinity of military posts near the village of al-Mefakr at the eastern countryside of Salamiyeh city.

The clashes ended up with killing and injuring a number of ISIL terrorists and destroying their weapon-loaded vehicles.

Daraa

Army units destroyed a mortar launcher of al-Nusra Front (Qaeda branch in the Levant) terrorist organization at the northwestern side of al-Masbah on the road of al-Sadd, a military source told SANA.

A terrorist group which was fortifying positions located southern Khazan al-Karak neighborhood in Daraa al-Balad was also eliminated, according to then source.